The KPK & The Police...

It is not like we did not know that this was coming, was it?

The police have finally admitted what we all already knew, they have no recordings! Yes folks, that is right, the police have nothing, they have squat, they have diddly, they are an embarrassment to themselves and to Indonesian law enforcement in general.

So, what did the police offer up as proof that they had done the right thing in pursing this to the n-th degree in order to detain two commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission, a copy of phone records and SMS records. Oh dear!

Therefore, the police case was based on the testimony of a man who would seemingly do anything, and say anything to save his skin, by alleging that Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah were on the take to the tune of IDR 5.1 billion, and some phone records, but no recordings. Oh dear!

The last time I checked it was not illegal to make phone calls nor was it criminal to send and receive SMS. Please, tell us that the Chief of Police ordered an investigation to verify that any of these alleged communication were in any way illicit. Please, please, please...Oh dear!

In other words, or just "simple terms", the police have had nothing, and they have had nothing all along. They have victimised two innocent men, they have brutalised their reputations, and they have caused them significant harm for a record of phone numbers and SMS.

Heads should must roll! The Chief of Police needs to be the first head to roll!

The Fate of the Free World and a Blackberry

I am sure that there are good reasons for President Obama to want to keep his Blackberry handy, like keeping in contact with his kids for example or texting Hillary Clinton that the bombing of Iran is an option or similar things. The mere fact that the President is going to continue to use it is tantamount to being a red rag to a bull. Every hacker worth their salt is going to be trying to crack the "big one". Fox News is referring to it as the Holy Grail.

The free world can rest assured that the device must have the best encryption available to human kind loaded onto it. Nevertheless, that is always the challenge that hackers face. So, why should hackers not go after the Presidential Blackberry?

I am sure if you crack the thing and then get found out you will be in for a world of hurt. Nevertheless, your reputation and legend will pretty much proceed you wherever you go. Kevin Mitnick, once acclaimed as the world's greatest hacker, did five years in prison for his hacking activities, but nevertheless seems to think it possible and that a sophisticated hacker is in with a shot at getting in.

According to Mitnick, the weakness might not be the President but rather the circle of people that he communicates with. They presumably will not be as encrypted as the President and therefore seeming more vulnerable to attack.

So, the innocuous SMS of "Dad, where is this secret service dude that is supposed to be picking me up from school" from one of his kids might be just the entry point a hacker needs.

The reality is that now that it has been publicly declared that the President is going to continue to use his Blackberry that there are armies of hackers and code breakers sitting in underground caves in China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, among other locales, all tasked with a solitary mission, hack into the Presidential Blackberry.

I wonder what the threat is like. Is it conceivable that the fate of the free world can be compromised by the use of a Blackberry?

The mind boggles.